Two Steps From Death
by x-Beyond-B
Summary: Three young siblings suddenly come across a Death Note laying in the grass behind their farmhouse. What's the worst that can happen? Well, other than the fact that two of them seem to have some odd supernatural ability. They soon realize lives aren't to be toyed with. Writing a name and remembering a face. Only two steps to cause death. Such an easy process. But is it really?
1. Prologue

**SUMMARY:**

**Three young siblings suddenly come across a Death Note laying in the grass behind their farmhouse. What's the worst that can happen? Well, other than the fact that two of them seem to have some odd supernatural ability. Though they come at a cost. Doesn't everything? Cassie, Casey and Justin soon find out that this isn't a game. Lives aren't to be toyed with. Writing a name and remembering a face. Only two steps to cause death... Trying to make things interesting without overdoing it, shall we see how this works? **

_Gotta put credit where credit is due._

**Death Note is created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. **

**Two Steps From Death is a collaboration with my little sister, Angel Meep, who created some of the characters in this story. (Look up her name on Twitter, she posts on there _all_ the time) Angel and Justin, as well as the shinigami are hers.**

**Casey and Cassie are mine, as well as any other OCs unless mentioned otherwise.**

* * *

**Two Steps From Death**

_(Prologue)_

Cassie had always been there for her mother, Anna, there to hug her and tell her it was okay. Being only 5 years old, she couldn't really understand the things she was going through. Her mother often times would start to cry and sob. Cassie would be there to cheer her up. Then there was her two siblings, Casey (Case for short) and Justin. They would always be outside playing tag and not paying any heed to their mother's suffering.

Cassie, however, was more sensitive than them. She could honestly feel what Anna was feeling, believe it or not. Cassie didn't understand this, herself. She'd always thought it was normal.

Once a week, though, her mom would come back stinking of alcohol and would sometimes break things. Cassie would try to ask her what was wrong.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" She would ask again, though she knew what would happen when her mother smelled like that. When her mommy Anna came back after a long night out, she wouldn't quite be herself.

"Get away from me, Rat!" She swatted Cassie across the face, making her blue eyes well up with tears. A sudden rush of foreign emotions flooded her system. Underneath all that rage, all that animosity. There was sadness, hurt, pain. Anna felt lonely. Did she not see her children right in front of her? Cassie wondered why she felt that way, seeing as how her children were right here this whole time. She'd never be alone.

Week after week, the same thing would happen, it only got worse and worse. Cassie would get more bruises, but would cover them up with long sweaters and makeup. Case and Justin would often hide in their rooms, away from the wrath of their mother. But Cassie never ceased. Cassie knew that her mom was going through something, but what? She wanted to help, even if it meant getting hit every week.

Her mom would always apologize, in tears, the next day. Apologize, over and over for hitting Cassie. She always forgave her, of course. Cassie loved her mother too much to hold a grudge. Too bad Case and Justin didn't feel the same way.

_(3 Years Later)_

"What should we do, Casey?" Cassie asked her twin, who just looked back at her and growled underneath her breath. It had been only a few years since then, and they were all 8 years old now.

"It's Case, okay. Not _Casey_." She snapped at her younger sister. Case's brown hair draped in front of her blue eyes, and was quite frizzy from not being tended to. The same could go for Justin. His dark gray mop of hair was so long and neglected, it almost made him look like a wild animal. His hair wasn't exactly the color most would think desirable. Almost like a dull black gray color, like an old man's hair. Not only that, but they needed haircuts. Badly.

"Mom's drinking habits aren't getting any better, I just want to help her." Cassie mumbled ignoring her comment, looking down at the carpet beneath their feet. They were sitting in Justin's room while he typed away at the computer that their mother bought for them all to share.

Despite the fact that she hurt Cassie and sometimes Case, she bought them lots of things. Well, as much as a single mother of 3 could do, that is.

"Usually when someone drinks that excessively, it's a form of 'self-medication' from a few of their past experiences. Our mother probably is going through a rough time right now, so the only way to cure her of her 'habits' so to say, we would need to get to the root of the issue." Justin explained while he chewed on a pencil, his eyes closed as he tilted the chair back and swirled around to face them.

"What do you suggest _we_ do about it?" Case asked, irritated. She never liked the idea of helping anyone, always so cold and callous. That could probably be because of the things that happened a few years back. Case had changed a lot since then. If it weren't for her hair, people would think her a boy.

"Well perhaps we could listen in on her phone calls, maybe even skip school a few times just to see where she hangs out. We dig deeper into her past, basically." Justin opened his dark purplish-blue eyes and stared down at Cassie, who was sitting on the floor. Justin was always the one to formulate plans, no matter how difficult the situation may have been he always had a level head. Despite being so much … different ... at times.

Justin was wearing his contacts today, Cassie noted, looking at him stare down at her on the ground. His natural eye color was green, but didn't necessarily like the color for some reason or another. So he purchased contacts from the internet.

"I think she should sort her problems out her self, it's not our problem she is the way she is..." Case butted in, getting up off the bed and walking out of the room. Their mother wasn't at home right now, out getting groceries for the house. So they had some time to dig around in her room to check some things out.

Justin shrugged and looked down at Cassie, she was staring up at him with a determined look in her eyes.

"I want to help her, despite what Casey may say." She told Justin, who just stared down at her blankly.

"Whatever you say." He swiveled the chair around and began typing on the computer. Cassie always looked up to Justin, even though he was different than everyone else. Then again, that's what made people unique. Their minor, or sometimes major, differences in personality and physical appearance.

* * *

**Cassie**

"Look, there is a picture." Cassie grabbed a small little picture from her mother's dresser. It was underneath all of her undergarments, somewhere that Justin wouldn't even think of going.

"Why are you digging in her panty drawer?" He asked dully, pointing at the different colored panties and bras.

"Well, if I wanted to hide something...I would put it in my underwear drawer." She smiled, "But I have nothing to hide..." Her smile dropped, "So don't even think about it!" She warned holding the picture in front of him. The back was facing her, "Steve?" She said aloud as she tilted her head.

"Who's Steve?" Case's dull voice questioned from the corner, somehow they'd gotten her to tag along. Cassie had that talent. No one else could change Case's mind except for Cassie.

"Well, it's obviously someone of importance." Justin grabbed the photo and turned toward Case, "Can you look around on the main computer for any 'Steve's'. Perhaps she's tried to contact him."

"Hn..." Case sounded almost bored as she trudged out of the room.

"So optimistic." Justin murmured sarcastically.

"Really? She seemed almost irritated to me..." Cassie responded innocently, completely oblivious to his sarcasm.

"_Right_...let's continue."

_(That Next Day)_

"Mom?" Cassie questioned, looking up at her with her big blue eyes.

"Yes, what is it?" Anna grabbed a plate and put their eggs and bacon on it. She continued dishing the children up as Cassie pondered whether or not to ask. Would it be a bad thing to ask who Steve was? She might get suspicious, but it's nothing too serious is it? Cassie wondered if her mother would hit her. Though she doubted that. She only hit Cassie when she was drunk, so she was safe.

"Can I ask you something?" Justin and Case looked over at her with a _'Don't even think about it'_ look on their faces. She ignored them and continued.

"Sure honey, what is it?"

"Who's Steve?" Cassie asked, sounding innocent. She was good at that. Her cute looks tended to help with that as well. Her mother froze at the sound of the name. Case slapped her hand on her forehead, looking in the other direction.

"Where did you hear that name, honey?"

"There was a picture in your dresser, and it had a name on the back of it."

"You know what I said about digging through my things..." Anna sighed, putting the plates in front of Justin and Case who didn't dare to look up at her. "You guys were digging around too, weren't you?"

"It was just me." Cassie butted in, too quick for the others to answer for themselves. "I was just curious...and started to dig around is all." She smiled widely.

"Well...Steve was just a good friend of mine, that's all. Now eat." She put her plate down as well and started to eat with the kids. Cassie knew that wasn't all, that slight twitching movement on her face. The guilty look in her eyes. All of it, she knew when a person was lying. It was all too obvious in Cassie's eyes.

That and when she handed her the plate of food, she felt such sadness come from her mother. She could _feel_ it.

"What was his last name?"

"What is this, an interrogation? Spotted Eagle, now finish your food before I send you to your room." Anna snapped, shoveling the food in her mouth. Justin observed her from the other side of the table, while Case just ignored everyone. Typical.

* * *

**Casey**

_(2 Years Later)_

Although it'd only been 2 years, the siblings have grown quite well. Still searching for this man, Casey sat in her mother's room and was tasked to look through the computer.

"Steve Spotted-Eagle...Steve...Steve." Casey mumbled to herself as she scrolled through her mother's contacts on the computer. The computer suddenly turned off, making the young girl grumble in irritation.

"Of course..."

"Anything yet?" Justin's head popped in just as the small brown haired tom-boy was knelt down looking at the back of the retched computer.

"Hn." She grunted, moving the wires around in the back, knocking one out by accident. Casey cursed under her breath. "USB?" She questioned, going to plug it back in. She kept missing so she ran her finger across the back of it, feeling around for the USB slot. Her finger finally connected with the slot.

_**'CRACK'**_

Words passed through her vision. Pictures, words, website URLs...Numbers? Her hand was still connected to the computer as she watched everything pass through her vision, searing itself into her brain. What seemed like hours was actually only minutes. Casey's eyes rolled back as she felt a warm trickle come down from underneath her nose.

"Casey!?" Justin yelled, his voice sounding distant. He must have heard the sound and came back to investigate.

_**'THUD'**_

Everything went black.

_(Months later)_

It'd been months since Casey's incident now. She'd spent months in the hospital, recovering from a brain injury. The doctor had explained how lucky she was to even be alive. Parts of her motor functions seemed to have been damaged, but other than that, everything seemed fine. Nothing a little physical therapy can't help, right?

Throughout the last summer break, Justin and Case were able to locate a 'Steve Spotted Eagle'. Inviting him over to their town with an anonymous letter, stating that Anna Weyaus wanted to meet with him. He was up there in no time.

Getting Anna to meet up with him was also a tricky task. But they were able to do it. Obviously, they were found out at one point in time. Steve them thanked them for getting Anna to finally talk to him again. Fortunately for them, he wanted to be with her.

He explained how he'd worked for a big corporation up in the cities in New York, being an accountant had it's ups and downs. It was boring, but well paying.

"I thought you couldn't have kids Anna." He finally asked, cringing at the sound of his own question. Anna's mood seemed to dampen a bit, but she soon perked up and smiled. Quickly overcoming that feeling she tried to leave behind so many years ago.

"Well, that didn't stop me from being able to adopt." Yes, they knew they were adopted so it didn't surprise them too much. Though they weren't informed about how she wasn't able to have children. So that made them a bit curious. "You see, having family doesn't mean they have to be blood related. I've raised these kids like they were my own, _and it'll stay that way too._" Her voice almost sounded demonic at the thought of even leaving the children behind.

"Oh _no_, I wasn't implying that...I was just curious is all." Steve waved his hands, hoping she wouldn't get angry at him. He almost seemed to be sweating under the pressure.

That is how it all started. Anna's drinking habits stopped almost completely, she and the kids moved in with Steve. He was a nice enough guy, but not everyone is perfect.

What startled them the most though, was that she was so quick to marry the guy. Not even a month later and she signed the papers for marriage.

Steve now lived closer to Minnesota, with a nice sized house and a farm to go with it. The house had three floors; a basement, main floor, and a top floor.

* * *

"I've never gone shopping here before." Cassie was in awe, looking up at the mall. They'd usually shop at WalMart for everything, so it was a new concept to Cassie. A mall. Casey didn't really care at the moment, staring at the passing cars in the parking lot. Her sister was always amazed at the smallest of things.

"Yea, we need to get you guys some school clothes don't we?" Steve chirped in, looking back at the group. Anna smiled and grabbed Casey's hand.

"Yea, honey. Come on now, don't look so down."

"Can I get a haircut?" Casey asked dully, looking up at her mother. She certainly hoped Steve would be kind enough to let them get at least that. He seemed to take a liking to little Cassie.

"You can say that again..." Cassie mumbled, looking at her sister's shaggy hair.

"Okay then! While Casey and Justin are in the salon getting their hair cut, we need to go and get some clothing for you, little Missy." Steve poked Cassie's forehead, getting a giggle out of her.

"Sure." She followed him while Anna set them up to have their hair done.

"Come down to that store over there when you are done, here is some money to pay for the trim." She handed it off to Justin. Anna nodded at the salon lady and pointed down the hallway, ensuring she knew that she would be close by. She then walked off toward Cassie and Steve.

"They look like a happy little family..." Casey mumbled once she was gone.

"Hmm..." Justin walked into the salon and started flipping through the books for what kind of style he wanted. His hair had grown well passed his shoulders and was a complete mess. He too agreed that they needed a haircut

* * *

**Justin**

Justin sat on the chair, watching the woman try to detangle his mess of gray hair. She seemed almost scared to tug at it too hard, probably thinking it would hurt him.

"You can tug harder if you want. It doesn't hurt..." He mentioned offhandedly, getting kind of bored with watching the woman struggle. She nodded and kept trying and trying.

"C-can I just wash it first? Maybe the conditioner would help."

"That's fine."

So she washed his hair first, making it much easier for her to comb through his muss of hair. He didn't necessarily mean for it to grow so long. If anything Justin preferred shorter hair. Easier to take care of.

Justin was deep in thought about the man, Steve, and his mother. Despite being only 10 years old ... he was pretty well informed about the world, as he liked to call it. Justin's GPA remained a 4.0, despite the fact he slept in most of his classes.

They were even thinking about bumping him up a grade, until they made him take a placement test. He answered all the questions any other 10 year old boy would know, but got all the others wrong. Just so that he could remain in the same grade as Cassie and Casey. Justin really didn't like the idea of leaving his siblings.

So it seemed that Anna and Steve had been in a relationship prior to her coming to Florida. Or before she even got all of them, Justin concluded.

_'Sounded like she hasn't been able to have kids since she was young, but judging from the fact that Steve was so quick to come back to her...She must have left him first. But why? Was it solely because she couldn't have kids? Or maybe it was because she'd been going through much more than just that.'_ Justin watched the woman finish cutting the rest of the hair, thinking about their current predicament.

_'Anna had a strong attachment to Steve. Love. So she quickly agreed to marry him. She also seemed like the type of person that was afraid of being alone.'_ The stylist started to dry his hair off with a blow dryer as he just sat there with a dull look on his face. _'That must be why she adopted us, because she couldn't stand the thought of being alone. Her parents must not be around anymore. But what about her siblings?'_

"All done, what do you think?" The young woman smiled brightly, holding a second mirror up so that he could see the back as well.

"It looks nice, thank you." He stood up and walked over to the counter, paying the woman for the services.

* * *

**Casey**

Justin had just gotten done with the haircut. He didn't look so much like a wild animal anymore. Though his hair color made him look like a short old man, in Casey's opinion that is. This amused her. Now it was her turn.

Casey's hair was at mid-waist length and was just as tangled as Justin's was when he went in before. The stylist looked almost terrified when she looked down at her head of hair and tried combing it out.

"I-I'm going to need to wash it..." She mentioned before she even asked what kind of cut Casey wanted. She only nodded in agreement before following the girl to the back to get all washed up.

"Any idea what kind of cut you want?"

"Something short and layered. You pick." Casey didn't really care what kind of haircut she got, as long as it was short. Just a bit above her shoulders, so that it would be easier to manage. She'd be happy with that.

* * *

"My head feels lighter." Casey looked at the ceiling as they walked down the hallway toward Steve and Anna.

"Mmhmm." Justin agreed, right beside her. They weren't much for talking, mostly keeping to themselves at times like this. However...

"What do you think about Steve?" Case looked over at Justin, who stopped on the side of the hallway. Groups of people walked by, not paying any mind to the two 10 year-olds. A few stores down was their destination, someplace they took Cassie to get some clothing.

"Hmmm, well I'm not sure. I haven't known him that long. It seems that mother has taken quite a liking to him though." He replied, in length. His eye twitched slightly as he peeked around. "If I were her, I wouldn't trust people so easily, but she doesn't seem like the naïve type...She had to have known him for a long time."

"Well, obviously." Case replied, tapping her foot as she crossed her arms. "He seems nice, but you know how people can be. Always so deceptive, it's just in our nature as humans." She added, almost angrily as she turned around on her heel and started off. Justin followed not too far behind. Always the pessimist, that one.

"Well, I guess we'll see won't we?"

"Hmm." She agreed, walking into the store seeing them laughing about something unknown to them.

"Oh, you look wonderful!" Anna chimed in, hugging Cassie as she came out of the dressing room. She was wearing a pink outfit. A layered skirt with a tank top, with one of those half sweater things. Case didn't know what those were. She wrinkled her nose, the color scheme was so...bright.

"Casey~!" Cassie yelled, running up to her sister and hugging her. Case just stood there awkwardly, looking down at her younger sister.

"You certainly seem...upbeat today." She commented, not knowing what to say at the moment.

"Yes, Steve is getting me these!" Cassie motioned toward a whole stack of clothing on the checkout counter.

"This too?" The clerk asked, looking down at little Cassie. She smiled and nodded at the lady. She then scanned the tags, "You can take them off now, I have them on the computer..." She started ringing up the rest of the things.

"Do you two need anything?" Steve asked, looking at the other two. Why was he so willing to spend money on them? He wasn't trying to buy their trust was he? Stupid. Case snorted and looked away.

"Eh." Justin answered, looking out at the people passing by. He didn't seem to really care.

"Come on you two. Be nice to Steve, this is a really kind gesture. It's hard to come by you know." Anna scolded, looking down at the two. They just stared disinterestedly out at the people together. Many things going through their minds, about what was to happen.

"It's okay, they probably don't like this store. Casey seems to be the type that might like that type of clothing right there." Steve reasoned, pointing at one of them down the mall.

"It's _Case_, not _Casey_." She peeked over at him, then looked back. She didn't really like him, and she didn't know why. Then again, that might just be her personality. She really didn't like anyone, besides family that is.

* * *

"Do you like it?" Steve asked, as they drove up the driveway. It seemed...big. Case didn't know what to make of it as she stared out the window of Steve's new car. This man had money, what did he do? Embezzle? He was an accountant after all, it would make sense. That really didn't matter to Case, as long as her family was happy.

Now, they lived closer to Minnesota before. Having moved in so swiftly, Steve thought it best to start anew. In a whole other town. He seemed intent on keeping Anna happy, so he decided to surprise her with this new place.

"Waahh! It's so huge!" Cassie squealed as she put her hands on the window of the car, she was almost pressing her face on it as she smiled just big. Case looked over at her and looked around.

"Well, let us go see where your bedrooms are going to be." He replied, getting out of their vehicle. Once outside, Case stared up at the sky. The clouds whipped by, the sun barely peeking through them as it shone down onto the house. The house was big, she gave it that. Two stories, with a barn in the back yard. Cows too? This would prove to be interesting. Maybe they had a few horses, that would be great.

Case didn't mind animals, and liked being around them. They seemed more connected to her than any of her own kind. Seemed to understand her more on an emotional level. When she had a dog, back when she was much smaller. She would sometimes cry for Cassie when she got hit, sitting in the room alone with Justin. He didn't know how to comfort her, but their dog was always there for her. Whining with her.

"Do you like it?" The man's voice broke her out of her memories.

"Of course I do, Steve! It's wonderful." Anna smiled and hugged him. They had moved from their other house to this one. The cows seemed to be the same, Case wondered if Steve would be willing to invest in a few horses. They were the ones that were going to do the chores and help take care of them after all. That topic would be discussed at a later time, she figured.

* * *

**Cassie**

"There are three rooms on the second floor, and the main room is close to the entry way." Steve walked up to the door, unlocking it with one of the keys from the ring that he had. The house had white paneling and it seemed like one of the rooms on the top floor had a balcony facing the driveway.

Once upstairs, Cassie walked into a large room that resembled a living area. A television was mounted on the wall in front of a series of couches. A glass coffee table sit amongst the furniture and the walls were a warm beige. It all seemed to nice.

"It looks cute." Anna smiled looking over at her kids. Cassie loved seeing her mother happy, so if she was happy then so was she. Their hands were conjoined, so Cassie could definitely tell that her mother was happy. She would remain happy, she hoped.

"You can arrange it how you want, this'll be your guys' place. To do homework, play games, hang out. Whatever it is you kids do these days." Steve laughed, looking down the hallway which led to a few doors. "You'll have to all share a bathroom though, if that's okay."

"It's fine, really." Cassie smiled cutely as she walked down the hallway, peeking inside of the rooms. They were empty as of right now, only a plain bed and dresser in each room. She figured they were that way for a reason, seeing as how they all had their own way of decorating things.

They were 10 years old and already had their own rooms! Cassie felt happy, excited, as she ran up to her sister Casey and hugged her. Casey was the only one that wouldn't give off her feelings. She couldn't feel what she felt, in other words, no matter how close she got. That was comforting, yet unnerving at the same time. By the time Cassie snapped back out of her thoughts, Anna and Steve had walked downstairs to look at the rest of their new house.

"What do you think! Hah?" She asked excitedly, jumping up and down.

"Calm down, Cassie. It's just a house." She mumbled to her upbeat little sister.

"Just a house? It's huge!"

"I'm guessing this is how upper class people live?" Casey pushed Cassie at arms length, staring at her with her dull looking eyes. Why couldn't she just be happy for a change? Cassie didn't like it when she was like that.

"Well, yes. As you can see, he had no qualms about just buying us brand name clothing. Now we all have our own rooms? I have a feeling we'll only get spoiled even more..." He looked around the room with a distant look in his eyes. He sometimes got that way when he was thinking. She knew that much.

"Well aren't you happy, guys?" She asked, almost sounding like she were whining. Cassie was just about used to Case and Justin being so indifferent about everything, but right now? Why weren't they as excited and happy as her? Maybe they were, but didn't like showing it? Though she would know, because she would be able to tell if they were lying about certain things.

"Hmm hmm, a little I guess. It's just so different, you see?" Justin smiled, walking down the hallway and into the middle room. Case would probably have the room closest to their living area. The stairs up against the wall, just beside the television that was on the wall. "The rooms are pretty average, I wish there was a computer desk though. A computer would be nice too..." He added, his voice trailing off toward the end.

Case grunted and walked into her room. The sound of metal scraping on metal could be heard from her room. Cassie covered her ears, but it was gone before she knew it. She then walked into her sister's room and looked around. It was dark.

"Why is it so dim in here? Don't you want a little light?" Cassie looked around, trying to see a bit. Case sighed and walked up to her little sister, turning on the light.

"Yes, but I was going to lay down and get some sleep. I'm sure _Steve_ has some moving guys coming. I'll end up having to help them, since Mom will ask..." She then turned off the light and her bed springs made a noise as she hopped onto it, relaxing.

"Okay, well I'm off to see the rest of this place." Cassie shrugged her sister's behavior off as something normal. She always acted like that, like she was bored with everything. The small girl put on one of her earphones and started to play some piano music, calm and soothing it was. She liked it. She only wished that this pianist in particular had an album. She always had to go on YouTube to listen to it.

"Yes, I'm sure. The kids will love the school here. It's a private school, and the programs are a bit harder. But I'm sure they can handle it." Steve's voice sounded from the master bedroom, Cassie stopped at the doorway.

"I know how hard school can be, what if the same thing that happened to me, happens to them? We aren't in Florida anymore. Do you think they'll be picked on for their nationality?" Her mother questioned. Cassie tilted her head, picked on for her nationality?

_'What does nationality mean?' _She wondered.

"Things are different now a days, and people aren't so hard headed about things like that. Sure it still happens...and probably will continue. But I'm sure the girl's will be fine. A few kids won't try to pick on them just because they look too brown. That's just plain stupid." He explained, completely sure that was the case. Cassie blinked, so her nationality probably had something to do with her race. Or something... She just shrugged again and walked to the open door.

"Oh hey, hun. How are things?" Anna asked Cassie, while she just smiled at her mother and walked up to her.

"Good, are the moving guys coming soon? Case mentioned them." She looked up at the ceiling in thought.

"Oh yea, Justin and Case will help the moving guys bring in some of the stuff. They are good with that kind of stuff." Anna added, ruffling Cassie's hair. "And you little missy, you need to go and start putting your stuff away. When your things come, you should get organized. Okay?"

"Yes, mommy." Cassie giggled, looking around the room.

Cassie sat in her room with her iPod on her lap, taking the earphones out of the jack. She then let music start to play through the speakers out loud. Cassie stood up and started to breathe slowly, meditating almost. This helped her, a lot. Whenever she'd feel overloaded from feeling too much energy from other people. Other people's feelings. She'd go into a room alone and listen to slow piano music.

Which reminded her …

* * *

_(A few years back)_

Cassie was browsing YouTube, trying to look for something interesting to watch. Justin stood behind her, a bored look adorn his face. No doubt he was waiting for his turn on the computer. A slow soft tune started to play through the speakers. Almost as if it were hesitant. Scared. The notes were fluid and had such an affectionate feel to them. The sound was unlike something she's heard before. Unlike any tune she's listened to at all.

On the screen sat a small girl, no older than her, playing a large piano. It seemed to dwarf her. The expression she held was that of peace. Her long brown locks fell in front of her face, casting a gentle shadow.

Suddenly the beat picked up and the girl lifted her head, revealing that she had purple and blonde horizontal stripped streaks in her hair. One on the right side of her face, the other was solid purple. Cassie blinked confusedly. It was obviously dyed, but she'd never seen anyone dye _stripes_ in their hair.

It wasn't just her odd appearance that stayed in her memory. It was that music. It seemed the thought was mutual with Justin, as he stared at the screen with an awestruck look on his face.

"So...So _beautiful_..." He murmured. She was unsure, however, if he was talking of the music or the girl.

* * *

**Case**

"So we are going to school tomorrow." Case commented almost to herself as she threw the hay into the fence. Justin not too far behind, getting the bucket full of feed to give to the cows. Some of them sticking their heads through the gate making a ruckus while trying to get to the feed that Justin had in the bucket.

"Okay okay, calm down." He mumbled, hoisting the bucket over into the feed bin. He distributed it evenly down the line to all of them. They didn't have many cows, just enough to feed the family when they needed more meat. That's about it. "Yea, so it seems." He answered Case, finally.

"Mom says it's a private school, do you think it'll be okay? I hear that sometimes the people there can be cruel...but that could just be my paranoia." She watched Justin struggle with the second bucket.

They weren't the normal 5 gallon buckets that the adults would use when they fed the cows. Since they were still so young, it was still a bit harder for them to lift such heavy things. The hay and water was all they really did out there. Justin just likes seeing them when they eat the corn, so he feeds them.

"Possibly ... But I'm sure you can handle it." Justin replied, breathing rather heavily after the third bucket. Case looked down at her bandaged hand that was on the pitchfork, it wasn't really her that she was worried about. But she didn't want to say it out loud, that would ruin her image.

She let out a huff and continued on with the work. _'Stupid people...'_

Once inside, it was almost dinner time. Case went into her room and changed into a different pair of clothing, having got the other pair dirty outside. She walked back out of her room and headed downstairs. During these passed few days, the house has become more. Personal. Pictures adorned the walls and their rooms were finally becoming their own.

"Mom! Can I have a snack?" Justin yelled/asked, looking around the kitchen. He come across a big jar of jelly beans and grabbed them, "Never mind, I found something."

"Don't you ruin your dinner now! I worked hard on this." Anna turned around and continued cooking, whatever it was.

"Fine fine." Justin looked at the clear jar before him and made possibly the most demented face she'd seen in the years she'd known him. And Case has known him all her life.

Justin gasped loudly and slammed the jar onto the table, putting his hands next to it. "W-what!?" He yelled, seemingly at the jar of jelly beans. He pulled the top off dramatically and slammed it onto the table next to the jar.

"**Why** are there so many colors! **What are you trying to tell me**?!" He screamed hysterically at the jelly beans. Case rose an eyebrow, she never knew what went through that boy's mind sometimes. "Why!?" He continued. He started to claw at the insides of the jar, then proceeded to savagely eat them by the handfuls.

Case sighed and shook her head, walking in the opposite direction. Sometimes Justin can be...interesting.

"Justin! You made a dent in the table!" Cassie's voice whined from the dining area, as she continued into the family room not too far away.

"It was their fault!" Case looked over at Justin, who was pointing an accusing finger at the jar of beans. "**Their fault I say!**"

"What?" Cassie laughed looking at the jelly beans, "These?" She ate a handful and walked off, ignoring her sibling's odd behavior like it was a normal occurrence. She stopped and looked back at the jar.

"Those are good."

"See? They are evil!" He continued eating them, while Cassie grabbed another handful and ate them. Shrugging her shoulders and continuing on.

Case sat down on the couch and looked at the blank television. Peeking down at her bandaged hand and letting out an almost inaudible sigh. She lifted it up and moved it around, examining her fingers and readjusting the white pieces of fabric.

_'I will always have to keep this hidden...'_

* * *

**So, as you can see, I've at least showed a little of their character. These are the main characters in the story. It will start out kind of slow, as do most other Death Note stories. Their personalities will slowly start to pop out in the next chapter.**

_**Will they meet the main cast?**_

**Yeah, some of them. Not all, though. The story will merge with the Death Note series and some things will change as a result of these three, I guarantee you that.**

_**Will there be romance?**_

**Yes. Though I am unsure whether or not I should pair one of the cannon characters with an OC. It is not yet decided, because romance is NOT a huge factor in this story at all. So sorry if that's what you hoped for. If, at some point during the story, you have a suggestion please write a review telling me your thoughts. I LOVE hearing what people have to say, whether it is good or bad. **

**If you have any questions, please do go ahead and ask. I'll be sure to answer them in the next chapter that is posted, if I can without spoiling the story that is. All of my authors notes will be at the bottom of my stories! As to not spoil anything for the chapter or cause irritation.**

**The things I mark with a (*) in the story will be explained in my authors note below here.**


	2. Meeting

"Meeting"

"Here are our new students, kids." The teacher motioned to Cassie and Case. Case was wearing the uniform that they issued them, though she preferred the boy's uniform. So she was dressed in the pants and dress shirt that they assigned her. Cassie was wearing, of course, the female uniform. She had said it was cute. Case just shook her head.

"I am Ms Emmett and I'm going to be teaching you and this class for this year." Miss Emmett explained, looking at the two girls. Justin had been assigned a different teacher in the room just down the hallway. So it was just the girls. "Care to introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about you?"

"I'm Cassie! Ummm...I like kitties and puppies..." She chirped in, not really knowing what to say about herself. Cassie looked over at her sister with a questioning look on her face, probably waiting for her to continue.

"I'm Case, I don't like talking." She introduced, looking at the teacher with an expectant look. _'Just assign our seats already, jeez.'_

Her introduction seemed to raise a few giggles in the crowd, mainly girls. Cassie blinked confusedly and looked around the room. It wasn't that large. This school was quite small compared to the one she used to go to. It was private, so only a select few could get in. Either you had to have exceptional grades before entering, or a rich parent. They had the latter.

"O-okay, you two can sit down that row right there. Make yourselves comfortable."

"Okay!" Cassie smiled and waved at everyone else in the classroom. They all just stared back with bored looks on their faces.

"I heard there is another new kid, he's in the other room though." Some of them chattered on, talking amongst themselves.

"Sit down kids, we still have a few more classes before lunch!" Ms Emmett announced, trying to keep the room full of kids under control. Everyone started to quiet down as the girls watched everything commence.

The classes weren't too hard, in Case's opinion. Then again, she liked to read ahead and Justin always talked about the things that were already discussed in the history classes and math classes. Cassie seemed like she was trying to pay attention as much as she could. Case knew that Cassie had a hard time in some of the subjects, so they would have to tutor her at home later.

"So is this your brother?" A girl walking next to Cassie asked, she smiled sweetly at them.

"Yes." Case answered instantly, thinking it was quite amusing that they thought she was a boy. Cassie just stared at her with a confused look on her face then blinked a few times. She got it, right. So she _wanted_ them to think she was male.

"Yea, Case is my fraternal twin brother. He's the eldest one." Cassie smiled, looking back at the girl. Though, if you'd known Cassie, that smile was fake. She didn't necessarily like the idea.

"Are you related to the other new kid too? What's his name..."

"Justin? Yea, he's my other brother." Cassie chirped, her demeanor suddenly changing. The girl didn't think to ask why they were all in the same grade. Case figured they wouldn't ask until the question finally popped into their head. It might take awhile for them to figure it out. Oh well.

"By the way, I'm Hannah. It's nice to meet you, Cassie." She continued into the lunch room while Cassie looked over at Case. Hannah ran off to the table she was sitting at, Cassie instantly reverted her attention on her eldest sister.

"Why did you have me lie to that girl? You know I hate lying." The small girl had a scowl on her face. Ah, yes. Although they were twins, they still had a much different build. Cassie was smaller, more compact and cute. While Casey was taller and more muscular, further strengthening everyone's suspicions of her being a male.

"Oh, come on. It won't hurt. Let's see how long it takes for everyone to realize that I'm actually female." Case replied quietly, her hands in a surrendering gesture. Though her facial expression said otherwise. "Don't be mad.."

"Errrr..." Cassie wanted to growl, from the look of her face. The corner of her lip twitched as her eyes squinted in disapproval at the girl.

"Hey guys." Justin popped out of nowhere, "Where have you been?"

"Just got out of class...it was so borrrringgg." Cassie drawled, looking out at the tables full of kids. There were all kinds, from different grades. Since it was such a small school, they could easily all have the same lunch time.

"They think I'm male." Case added offhandedly, looking at Justin.

"EEHAHAHA, What? Seriously?" He continued cackling, while some of the passing students looked at him oddly. "You have to be kidding me."

"Nah, I'm serious. I'll see how long it takes though, days...months? Years?"

"Dunno, hahahaha. That's hilarious." He patted Case's back roughly, getting a smirk out of her. "That ... should be interesting."

_(1 Year later)_

_11 Years Old_

_2002_

A year later, they had already gotten settled in quite nicely in school. Obviously. Cassie had a group of friends she hung out with. While Justin and Case seemed to like to keep to themselves at their own table. Case, of course, still kept a keen eye on her little sister. Making sure no harm would befall her.

"Why do you still watch her so closely? She'll be fine." Justin mumbled, reading hid textbook. It was lunchtime and Cassie was hanging out with Hannah and a few other people.

"You can never trust people...Cassie is too naïve to realize that. So I'll just have to watch out for her." Case replied dully. There were bags starting to form underneath her eyes from not sleeping these passed few days.

* * *

The next day, Case decided to pretend to be sick. So that she could stay home and get some rest. Having stayed up for awhile, trying to figure out how to protect her little sister from the world. Case finally came to the conclusion that if anyone hurt her, she'd make sure their children felt the pain. That would teach anyone else to mess with her sister. It didn't matter to her if it was a boy or a girl. The girl had no qualms with beating the living crap out of someone for hurting her family. She'd even go as far as killing, if needed.

Anna, their mother, didn't really seem to ask many questions as Casey had rolled over in bed that morning claiming to be sick. It was pretty rare for any of them to stay home, so it's not like it would cause much of an issue. She spent a majority of her day sleeping, seeing as how she hadn't gotten much of that as of late... When she did finally awake, though, it'd already been close to the time her siblings will come home.

Yawning, the tomboy sat up from her bed and walked into the living room just outside of their rooms. Not even bothering to brush or flatten her locks, she plopped down on the couch. It wasn't long until...

"We're home!" she heard her sister call from downstairs, "I brought a friend with me." Cassie added, almost silently. Probably hoping that their parents weren't here, because she had to ask before bringing anyone here. Who doesn't?

"Any homework today?" Case asked, as she trotted down the stairs. Cassie knew that she wasn't sick. She always knew when people lied. Case knew this. Though, from what she'd been told, Cassie couldn't tell from Case. She couldn't _feel_, she'd said. The thought made her shiver. She could feel other people's feelings? That would make her go mad. How could she handle that? It was similar to her ability, though she hadn't used it since that day she almost got herself killed years ago.

Cassie could feel humans and connect with them in a way normal people could not. Casey could touch electronics and connect with them in a way normal people cannot. They didn't even know the extent of their abilities, but Casey knew that it'd almost _killed_ her. So she refused to even try doing it again until she understood. Cassie would sometimes get aftereffects too, getting dizzy and sometimes fainting in the middle of a crowd.

"Hmmm, yea. Here's the worksheet for our math class. That's about it though." Cassie mumbled, digging in her bag for her homework. She was tasked with grabbing it today, so she didn't fall behind. It made sense, since most of their classes were the same.

"Where's your friend? And who is this again?" She addressed Cassie and asked where Hannah was, while tilting her head slightly. Her mouth formed a thin line, eyes narrowing. Why suddenly only bring this girl instead of Hannah? Had she done something. The thought made the girl want to growl.

"Oh, it's Angel. She hangs out with me and Hannah sometimes. She's pretty cool." Cassie smiled and jumped a little in excitement as she explained. Almost as if she looked up to Angel.

"Mmhmm. Okay." Case looked out the door, which was still opened slightly. "They are definitely taking their time."

"Yea, Justin is talking to Angel. He's been trying to hit on her all day. With no luck, of course." She laughed. A genuine laugh. It must have been interesting. Not long after she stopped her giggle-fit a girl, about 5 and a half feet (roughly) came into the door with Justin.

"Aw, come on. You don't even want to at least try to go out with me?"

"No." Angel replied dully, almost as if getting bored of his asking. "We are still too young to date, don't you think?"

She had a rather interesting looking 'beanie' hat on that Case looked at almost immediately. So she was a Bleach fan? It had been Kon, a little stuffed lion, and there he was...in hat form. Not to mention the fact that the color scheme of her outfit didn't even match. Black knee high converse , purple skinny jeans, blue tutu, and a black tank? And to top it all off she had a big purple streak through the front of the bangs of her shoulder length brown hair.

Case wanted to slam her head into the wall. At least she didn't wear sparkly 'purple, pink and green colored' eye contacts. That was an inner joke to herself, having read many fan fictions of girls wearing outfits of similar description to this girls style. So she stuck with being silently amused.

"You're not matching." Case said aloud in a dull tone, looking in Angel and Justin's direction. Immediately they both reacted. Justin's face went from content to mortified in an instant. He looked down and patted himself down dramatically. Angel had a 'no shit Sherlock' look on her face. Her eyebrow raised slightly almost in amusement at her obvious deduction.

"What?" Justin and Angel said in unison. Though with different tones of voices. Angel sounded almost like she were about to laugh, while Justin had seemed to be distressed.

While Justin continued to freak out. "How, where? What?" They walked into the living room, ignoring his little episode.

"What's with her clothing choice?" Case said to Cassie, who just looked over at her with a confused expression.

"Well, most would ask the same about you. I mean, you dress like a guy." She answered her, "To each their own." She smiled and ran up to Angel. "So whaddya wanna do?

"Want to play Call of Duty?" Angel asked hopefully.

"Call of Duty?" Justin chirped, supposedly appearing out of nowhere.

"No! I don't want to shoot people!" Cassie objected, flailing her arms. The small girl had never liked killing things, real or not.

"But you really don't kill people...it's just a game." Her gray haired sibling pointed out.

"I know...but..."

* * *

**Cassie**

It wasn't till much later that they got bored of dying so many times. Angel blamed her teammates, Casey blamed Angel's skill. Cassie just wanted them to stop fighting. Justin was nowhere in sight, having bailed out at the first sign of a fight.

_'Probably looking for something to eat...'_ Cassie sighed inwardly.

"You guys got a piano?" Angel suddenly asked, looking curiously over at Cassie.

"Oh, yeah. It's in the basement. Wanna try it?"

"Hells yeah!" The girl pumped her fist enthusiastically, getting an eyebrow raise out of Casey.

Once downstairs the girl took a seat in front of it. A soft smile adorn her face as she brushed the keys gently, as to not cause a sound. She seemed in her element. Cassie blinked, thinking she should remember something. Why did this seem so familiar?

It was then that it all came back to her. Soft music started to come from the piano. Hesitant at first, gentle, calming. The look on the colorful girl's face! That's right, it's the girl from the YouTube video! Cassie remembered now. All this time hanging out with her, she completely forgot about her weird hair and everything.

The brown haired girl looked behind her, spotting Justin sitting on the stairs with a look on his face she couldn't quite place. It wasn't awestruck like it'd been when he first heard her music. Rather it was...softer? His smile was unlike any other expression she'd seen on him before.

* * *

Later that night, their mother had returned to see Angel sitting on the couch watching television.

"Oh, Cassie. You know how I feel about surprise visitors." She almost whined to her daughter.

"I'm sorry, Mom. But Angel is one of my closest friends." Cassie looked at the floor, expecting to be scolded. She really liked Angel and they got along very well. Hannah too, but she didn't hang out with her as much as Angel did now a days. It had seemed that she preferred to be with the 'popular girls' on the cheer-leading team. Angel didn't care about all of that.

"Well, fine. Just this once, but if it ever happens again you are grounded."

"Yes, mom!" Her eyes instantly lit up, "This is Angel!" She pointed at the girl laying on the couch lazily munching on some Twizzlers.

"Herro." Angel waved over at Anna Twizzlers still dangling out of her mouth. This got a smile out of the woman.

"She's cute! Wow, you have a wild sense of fashion." Anna commented on Angel's outlandish outfit.

"Yea, I like colors. Lots of colors." She motioned to all of her plastic and rubber wrist bands of a variety of colors.

"We can tell...it looks like you were gang banged by crayola." Case mumbled from the corner, watching the same television show as Angel. The colorful girl looked over at Case with a demonic look on her face.

"What did you say?" She said swiftly, her tone of voice changing as it was directed toward the annoying tomboy.

"Oh, nothing. I just said your sense of style is soooo cool." Case replied in monotone, not even missing a beat. Angel just 'hmphed' and looked away. Even Cassie, who was extremely gullible, knew that Case was being sarcastic about her 'cool style'.

* * *

Cassie was sitting in the couch next to Angel, Casey and Justin were on the one just opposite of them. The glass coffee table between the children had their homework and phones sitting atop it.

"So, out of curiosity, are you Hispanic or something?" Casey asked Angel curiously. She'd wondered this whole time, not really sure what she was. It was just a simple conversation starter, hopefully it wouldn't go badly.

"Nah. I'm native to this land, Bro!" Angel smiled cheesily, giving the two across from her a big thumbs up. Cassie stared at her in awe, her eyes alight with wonder.

"So you're an Indian?!" The small girl asked, childish curiosity laced her voice. Angel's smile faltered, only a little. Probably understanding that Cassie wasn't exactly the brighest-

"S-So do you guys still live in teepees and stuff!?" The dull girl blurted, making Angel's face turn from that of joy and pride to irritation.

"I don't know? Do you still wear a powdered wig and live in a covered wagon!?" She shouted back defensively. It seemed more like a reflex to yell back more than anything.

"W-whaaaa?" Cassie's eyes glossed over, tears forming in the sides of her eyes. Angel's demeanor shifted again to that of sympathy. She hadn't meant to hurt the girl's feelings.

"N-no! I-I'm sorry, Cassie! I'm.."

"Great, now you've done it..." Casey mumbled, looking over at the TV. Justin grunted, going back to his book.

"I think the correct term is _Native American_, Cassie. Sometimes people will get offended if..." Justin tried offhandedly.

"N-No it's okay! She didn't know." Angel laughed nervously.

"Idiots." Case mumbled grumpily.

"Jeez, no need to get your knickers in a twist." Angel shot back, getting a chuckle out of Justin.

* * *

**Justin**

_(That Night)_

After a long night of playing Call of Duty, Justin blinks a few times. God, was he getting tired. It showed on his face. What piqued his interest, though, was that there was yelling going on out in the living area downstairs so early in the morning.

"Well, I needed some coffee anyways." He scratched himself a few times and stood up, groggily. Justin got to the bottom of the stairs, all the while hearing the yells of Angel and Case.

"No, you need to shut the fuck up!" Angel screamed, supposedly at Case. The tomboy looked at the small girl and smirked. That was enough to set Angel off again. "There you go again, this isn't a joke! You know that?"

"So, what does it matter to you? All you care about is hair products and make up." Case talked as if she looked down on the small girl. Though they were roughly the same height and weight. Justin shrugged, not caring for the fight. Usually they all just yell at each other and are friends the next day again. Hmm.

"I'm not liking your condescending attitude. You always act like that!" Angel was furious, though Justin knew she had anger problems.

"Oh, so you know a four syllable word. Am I supposed to be impressed?" So did Case. She was just able to hide it much easier.

"RRGGH!" Angel let out, what sounded like, a battle cry. Justin walked in between them, only to get hit in the head with some large unknown object.

"Was that aimed for me? _You suck._" Case commented offhandedly, almost as if her anger didn't matter. Justin rubbed his head and looked down. It was Angel's phone.

"Eat shit! Bitch!" She thew something else, hitting Justin once again. This time, fortunately, it hit his shoulder and shattered on the ground. It was a coffee cup, so it still hurt like hell.

"Wait, what the He-" Justin's words were cut off by a chair hitting him in the back. From Case's direction. "Aaaah!" He let out a high pitched scream.

"I hate you!" Angel screamed, throwing her book bag hitting Justin in the side of the head. That dropped him. He was sprawled out on the ground, seeing stars.

"Owww..." He grumbled, hearing them still arguing. His ears were ringing and he sat up, only to get a shoe thrown at his face. Case's shoe. That wasn't good, because she wore steel toed combat boots. He couldn't take this anymore!

Justin stood up abruptly and started off toward the kitchen, hoping to get out of the crossfire. He went in front of a table. Angel was on the other end yelling profanities at Case while she just stared at her with the same look on her face.

"You're crazy, you need to see a doctor." Case taunted, laughing lightly. Justin's eyes widened, Case was angry. She _laughed_. She was mad. Pissed. Shit. Shit. _Shit_. This was bad.

Before he could make a break for it, unfortunately, he was hit right in the stomach by their hardwood table. Angel had pushed it with all her might and this time, Justin wouldn't be getting back up. Because just as he hit the ground, his head came in contact with the floor with a loud '**THUD**'. He completely blacked out after that.

* * *

Justin wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but once he sat back up it was quiet. Much too quiet.

"My head..." He held it while standing up slowly, sure to avoid any broken glass. The gray haired boy then made his way to the kitchen, where he could fetch himself a cup of coffee. The main reason why he'd come down here in the first place.

"At least I have my coffee..." He said aloud, trying to think on the bright side. Not think about his aching body and the unknown amount of bruises and cuts.

Another reason why he loved coffee, was because he could put anything he wanted in it. Chocolate, Cinnamon, Hazelnut, Caramel. It all didn't matter when it came to the sugar. Anything sugary was good for Justin.

"Come to papa." He murmured to his unusually large mug of coffee as he opened the cupboard to grab the sugar and creamer. There was no sugar. No. Sugar.

.

.

.

It took a few minutes for his brain to realize this, as his eye twitched and his arm spasmed.

No.

Sugar?

"NOOOO!" He screamed loudly, dropping to his knees.

_(1 Year Later)_

_12 Years Old_

_January 4th 2003_

It had only been a year, and the group of friends had already become so close. Angel, coming over on almost a regular basis right after school most days. They spent a lot of time together. Many fights (between Case and Angel), pleasant memories, and long nights of homework and finals. That private school really overworked these young ones. Though they stayed persistent to the end and never gave up.

It was a school for more...advanced children nonetheless. So it was to be expected that they were doing problems more meant for high school students. Though that didn't necessarily mean they had matured. Sure, they had learned to _act_ mature in public. In private, however, they were just as any other twelve year old child.

* * *

Case and Justin were out doing their daily chores, early in the morning. Little Cassie had decided to tag along, since she'd already been ready for school. She wasn't much help, unfortunately.

"I'm sorry, if you are mad at me." Cassie mumbled, looking at her twin sister. She looked over at her, bits of hay sticking out of her hair. She'd always kept it short, just like Justin's. No wonder the kids from their school still thought of her as a boy.

"I am not, I was just pointing out facts..." She looked back at the cows, "Steve had always wanted a good little daughter, and that is you. Not me. Even though I am older than you...I think you definitely deserve what he is going to give you." Case explained.

"But what if I don't want to inherit everything when he dies? I will give you guys a split, regardless of what the will says." Cassie argued, her blue eyes shone with determination.

"What you do with it is up to you. Justin and I are considered his sons...even though he clearly knows I'm female." Case mumbled the last part, making it almost inaudible. Yes, it was true. Steve was going to die. When? They didn't know. There was lung cancer and he didn't want to go through with the chemotherapy that they would have to give him. He had said something about how his parents had died during the treatment and that if he were to die. Then he would die his own way, with his family.

Cassie sighed, looking out into the field that was beside their house. Only a small portion of it being unfenced, that was where they played a lot. Not today though, as it was covered with snow. Some were patches of snow while the other still had grass peeking out, brown and dead. Case liked the cold, yes, and she loved being outside but her body could only take so much.

_It was then that Cassie saw something start to fall from the sky._

"What are you looking at?" Justin asked, making Case stop what she was doing to look as well. They all saw a small black object fall and hit a patch of grass in the middle of their playing field.

* * *

**Case**

"What was that?" Case asked, dropping her pitchfork into the snow. Cassie shrugged, walking toward it her feet crunching against the crusty snow. Her sister looked up at the sky, scanning for any planes that were possibly going by. Nothing. She then jogged up to her sister, matching her pace.

"A...notebook?" Cassie said aloud. She then looked down at the small thing.. Case felt the urge to grab it, take it for herself. Something about this wasn't right. A book falling out of nowhere? Cassie went down to grab it. Case went down just as fast.

The twins grabbed the book at just about the same time, Case holding it tighter than Cassie. She didn't want the girl to take it. Why? It was just a plain black notebook, no more. Right?

* * *

Not too long later, the kids sat inside Case's room. It was still early, so they had a few hours to kill. Their parents fast asleep, probably tired from last nights talk about Steve.

"What's with this odd language?" Case mumbled, having a try at reading the cover. There was some unknown language in the left bottom corner of the book. Almost as if it were a name of some sort. A title, perhaps?

"Mmhmm." Justin agreed, grabbing it and looking at it.

"Hello~." A voice sounded from the other side of the room, making the kids snap their heads in that direction. A tall man stood, or rather floated, right in the corner of their room. The right side of his mouth appeared to be hand stitched into place. Seeing as how it was sloppily done. "So you guys have my book, hmmm?"

"W-what?" Justin stuttered, while Case just sat there unable to speak. This man. This...thing didn't even look human. Sure it had a human form, but...something was different. Well, he did have scary long fingers and nails that looked like they could tear them apart and horns sticking out of his head in a curved fashion. His red eye was slitted like a cats while his short black hair draped over one, hiding it from view.

"Are you a demon?" Cassie blurted, her voice quivered in fear. She didn't even have the strength to scream either, Case imagined. Because she was scared. Oh yes, she was scared. His pale form shifted slightly, he was so pale he almost looked white. His black and red striped sweater was slightly torn, as for his black tight jeans.

"Ehehehe! No, of course not!" He snapped his hip and put more weight on the other, making his pose look rather girly. He then rested his hand on his hip, next to his belts. It looked like it was there to hold something...a book. Case looked down at the notebook in Justin's hand. That book was his, this demon's book. "I'm a god of death." He smiled even wider, if that was possible.

"D-death?" Cassie stuttered, tears forming in her eyes. Case frowned, looking at the thing and walking in front of Cassie.

"What do you want, Demon?" Casey spoke up, her voice even as she could make it.

"God of death, there is a difference. Helloooo." He flicked his hair out of his hidden eye, revealing it. It was also sewed shut. "You see, that there is my book."

"Do you want it back?" Case asked, "What's so special about this book?"

"Oh, it's my Death Note." He answered casually, pointing at it with his sharp nail. Justin didn't flinch, just stared at him with wide eyes. He must have been scared shitless. Poor guy.

"Death...Note?" Cassie just about fainted at the sound of the word 'death' again.

"Oh yea, I guess it's..." He looked above their heads, for what reason what unknown to Case at the time. "Cassie's? No...Casey? Oh, this is definitely odd. I got lucky!" He smiled and snickered in a girly way. How did that thing know their names?

"What? Why?" Case asked, looking up at the tall demon thing.

"Oh, two owners. You and your little sister there, you both now have shared ownership of my book! How wonderful! What a rare occasion, this calls for celebration!"

"You are odd for a demon..." Case mumbled, her hands still shaking. She felt intimidated by this thing. He was so tall...and obviously dangerous. A god of death? Oh wait, on Bleach they called the Shinigami's 'soul reapers' or 'gods of death' so does it have the same meaning? It would definitely be shorter than saying 'hey god of death' or 'you come here god of death'.

"So..._shinigami_. What do you want us to do with your...little notebook? I have no clue what it is for."

"Oh, you can kill people with it. Hehehe. Wanna try? It's rather fun! Really! Sometimes if you write down how they die, you can control it. You put it down and watch them shake and spasm as they slowly lose their lives." He explained in detail, by that time Cassie had fainted. Her eyes rolled back into her head and a loud **_'THUD'_** could be heard from beside Casey.

"Cassie!" Case yelled, making Justin shake his head and look at her too.

"Is she okay?" He asked worriedly.

"Oh don't worry, she's not dead. Yet. Ehehehe." Getting a terrified look out of Justin, "Oh, no! I won't kill you...not yet. Not soon. Don't worry. Just continue what you are doing." The thing waved off, it's speech patterns were always so rushed. Almost as if it was on a caffeine rush or something.

"You talk a lot..." Case murmured, holding her sisters head in her hands while she was knelt down.

"Oh? Well too bad, you're going to have to put up with me for..." He looked above her head, "Awhile. Yup. A LOONNG time. In your years that is. Ehehehe." He giggled.

"What are you called? Your name, I mean."

"Delvin, at your service!" He mock bowed, walking closer to the group of kids. "Wow, you are definitely young...younger than I had thought. Are you going to use my note?"

"We can use it...to kill people?" Case asked, remembering him talking about killing people with it.

"Oh yea, you write their full name down and wait for 40 seconds and they'll die of a heart attack. You have to have their face in your mind when you do it of course though. Ehehe, and if you write the cause of death within the first 40 seconds it will happen. It's fun."

"I know...you mentioned that already." Case said dryly, "So this is ours now?"

"Yup, until you die." Delvin laughed, making Justin cringe. He didn't seem to like the prospect of dying.

* * *

It had been a few hours and school would start soon. During that time Delvin explained to Justin and Case about the rules of this, Death Note. They would have to start walking to school soon.

"Cassie, come on. Wake up." Case patted her sisters face, looking down at her. Cassie's skirt was rumpled up and running up her thigh slightly.

"C-casey...? I had the weirdest dream.." She sat up slowly, "We met a demon...thing and."

"Sorry to break it to ya toots, but I'm the real thing. God of death, actually." He stared down at the small girl, getting a yelp out of her.

"Shinigami. His name is Delvin." Case answered her unasked question as she stared up at him, "He won't hurt us. He says he's gonna just...follow us around I guess. We own this thing."

"The killer notebook?" Cassie's body quivered, her eyes starting to water again. She was staring at the note that was in Case's hand.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you."

"Unless you write her name in it." Delvin added, holding up his pointer finger. Cassie whimpered, and that made Delvin laugh excitedly. "Ehehehe! You humans are fun!"

"Let's go!" Justin called, walking toward the entrance of the room.

"Why aren't you kids out the door already?" Case heard her mom call, making her look up at Delvin in fear.

"Get in the closet!" She yelled, standing up and walking toward him. Her hands went right through and he stared down at her dully.

"What am I? Some teenager's boyfriend? She can't see me. Unless she touches the note, that is." He smiled, though she knew it wasn't a friendly smile.

"Maybe I shouldn't have touched it, then..." Justin mumbled to himself, barely heard by the tall girl.

"Augh! I'm going, mom. Don't worry!" Case yelled, grabbing Cassie by the arm and pulling her up from off the floor. "Let's … GO." She started walking out the door. Delvin floating behind them, snickering to himself about some thing or another.

Once they had gotten out of their mother's car, down the block next to Angel's house, they made their way to school.

"Ah, hey Angel." Cassie greeted, trying to conceal the fact that she was still shaken up about Delvin.

"Oh, wow. She's definitely a colorful one." Delvin commented, looking down at the small girl. Though his voice seemed to hold a different emotion in it. He seemed like he was remembering things. She was walking next to her older sister, Lynn. They were all still in their winter uniforms, looking forward to the upcoming spring.

Case peeked over her shoulder, slightly glaring at Delvin. He had some odd looking tattered black wings spread out as he followed them. Justin was walking behind Angel and her sister while Cassie tried to keep her mind off of the thing floating behind her.

* * *

**Delvin**

The shinigami looked at the group of small kids in front of him. They hadn't tried out his note yet, but he was looking forward to it. He had always wanted to know what a humans reaction would be to a Death Note. Even though it'd been a complete accident. He was wrestling around with his friend, Zellogi, and it just popped out of it's case. POP! Damn... Zellogi sure did seem to have a good laughing fit after that, too. Telling him that he was doomed.

Perhaps the King will just brush it off as a rookie's mistake, because Delvin was still quite young for a shinigami. Which was another reason why he still retained his almost human like appearance. His body still slowly decaying, this was why he wore long sleeved shirt and pants. The skin around his cheek area already started to rot and show his teeth, so he sewed it together, hoping for the best.

_'I need a new carrying case...' _Delvin grumbled in his head, _'Though I'm sure this will be interesting. It was getting boring up there anyways.'_

Angel's sister, Lynn, turned her head and looked straight up at Delvin. Her dull eyes seemed to pierce through his, non existent, soul. She seemed to examine him like an animal at a zoo, but who wouldn't? Her calculating gaze made him feel quite uncomfortable. She could see him? It was almost as if it didn't bother her, like it was a normal occurrence. Something of the sort. The girl, turned back around and acted as if nothing had happened.

His stay on Earth would definitely be amusing. So he decided not to let them know that another person from outside of their party could see him. _'I wonder what kind of havoc that woman will cause?'_

He knew that the girl had to be, maybe 4 years older than the children. Her hair was short, just like Cassie's. One wouldn't be able to tell that Lynn was Angel's sister, on account of the fact their personalities were completely different. Angel the extrovert, Lynn the introvert. Lynn was plain and Angel was full of color and was much more interesting looking. The bags under her eyes showed that of great weariness. She was tired. Not just tired and needing to sleep. But tired. Tired of the world around her, it seemed. He knew that look very well.

* * *

**Angel**

Angel could tell that Case and Justin were acting a bit off today. Not to mention the fact that her older sister seemed to walk a bit closer to her than usual. Lynn only did that when she sensed something was wrong. Her sister told her everything. Even when their parents told Lynn to keep their jobs a secret from Angel, she still told her nonetheless. Being an agent for the Government had to be a secret, even for the family.

Nothing get's passed her sister though, she's much too observant. She finds things out about people that sometimes they don't even know about themselves. Though she doesn't care to use it against them, due to her detachment to the world around her. She never really had friends either, on account of the fact she doesn't really talk or socialize. She hates it. Angel sighed.

"So did you make any friends at all, Lynn?" She asked her sister, looking up at her. She was a bit taller than her, but not by much. The woman just looked down at her little sister and nodded a 'no.'

"I don't need friends..." She replied in a low monotonous voice. Angel could stand Lynn since she didn't care to annoy anyone, but Case was a different story. Her anger and bitchiness seemed to get on her nerves. Then again, what girl didn't get on Angel's nerves at her school? It was just the way people were, after all.

"I'm sure you do, you used to have friends at our old school. What about them?" Angel remembered, looking back over at her friends. They seemed silent. Now usually they would be talking about things nonstop. What was wrong with those guys?

Lynn just looked over at her sister with an odd look in her eye. Most wouldn't be able to distinguish her looks. When she was angry, she looked the same. Just as when she was happy or sad. It all didn't matter. Her face or voice stayed the same, even in grave amounts of danger. Right now, it looked as though she were thinking along the lines of, _'you've got to be kidding me...' _

"Augh, come on. You can't live in the past forever." She argued, looking away in a huff.

"You're right." She replied to her sister, never saying anything after that. Angel sighed, looking back over at her friends and tilting her head in question. They all still looked a bit...rigid. The way they walked and looked around seemed. Guarded.

"What's wrong?" Angel asked them, looking at Cassie specifically. She knew Cassie disliked lying, even though she was so good at it.

"Nothing, we just heard some news last night about our father." Cassie replied, looking ahead. "He's … dying.." Her voice got small, almost as if she didn't want to say that last word.

"S-steve?" Angel stuttered, remembering their father's face. He was a nice man, though he seemed to prefer little Cassie over the other two. She never knew why.

"Yea, our mom is taking it quite hard. I-It's cancer. He refuses to get chemotherapy." Cassie continued, the other two stayed silent. Angel looked back at Justin, his face showed sorrow. It looked as though he were going to cry.

"I'm sorry...I wish there was something I could do." Angel apologized, not knowing what else to say. She really liked Steve and wished there was some way to help. But there wasn't. Not if he was refusing the help that was offered, but he probably had his reasons.

"It's fine, really. Just pray for him." Cassie mumbled, coming up to the gates to their school. Lynn waved at her sister in a lazy fashion before going across the road to her high school. Their schools were close together like that, making it more convenient for their older siblings to walk them to school while the others went as well.

* * *

**Cassie**

The next day, and it was already a weekend. Cassie had been invited over to Angel's house for a while, so that she could gather her things to come and sleep over at their house. Cassie was excited about it, always loving the thought of having a friend stay the night. Staying up late, playing board games and reading magazines.

"Well, here's my house." Angel looked over at the group, which consisted of; Angel, Cassie, Case, Justin, and Lynn.

"Wow, it's pretty big..." Cassie mumbled, looking up at it. It was the same size as theirs, but the way the windows looked so lit up and how the basement was full of life made her think there was much more activity inside of it than at her house. That was for sure.

"Hmm, yea. Just a forewarning. Members of my family can be complete nutcases. Fortunately for you guys, half of them are gone. Either at a friends house or at a babysitters." Angel explained, opening the door. "Though that won't last long, since Dad is getting off work here pretty soon and the sitters drop off my young siblings."

"How many people live here?" Case asked, getting quite curious about it. Lynn just continued down a flight of stairs, not even looking back or saying goodbye. So she lived in the basement, it seemed.

"Oh...there are 9 of us. 10 on weekends. My cousins like to come and hang out." She replied casually, following Lynn down the stairs. So that explained Lynn's patience. She had lots of siblings. Cassie couldn't imagine the mischief that many people could get into.

"Yo." A guy came walking down the stairs with a laptop in his hands. His hair was bushy...really bushy. An afro, to put it lightly. His hair was EVERYWHERE. Cassie gaped. His clothing looked like he didn't even care, not even matching or anything.

"You guys can wait up there while I pack up real quick. Kyle! Entertain them." Angel called up the stairs, leaving the three kids standing their awkwardly. The kid, entitled Kyle, looked boredly over at them.

"What do I look like? Your maid?" Kyle yelled down, shaking his head in annoyance. "Whatever..."

"What are you doing?" Justin asked, looking over at Kyle.

"Nothing, just doing a project on something for science class..." Kyle itched his head, typing with one finger as he strolled into their living room.

"About?" He pushed, getting a doubtful look out of Kyle. He seemed sure that little Justin wouldn't understand.

"Finding out how to get an alternate fuel source. I was thinking perhaps Methane gases. But how would I harvest it? Then I have to make a diagram on my little project and type an essay about it." He put the laptop onto the coffee table, Cassie stared at them with a confused look in her eye.

_'You can use Methane as a fuel source? Wait, what's Methane?' _She pondered, looking over at her sister who was looking at the tall ceiling of the house. She still had the same look on her face.

"I'm trying to do this so we cannot harm any wild life in the process. That would go against all that I stand for." Kyle typed furiously onto the keyboard, going into deeper explanation about his Methane gases. Justin seemed to nod and understand what he was saying, even contributing to the ideas. Cassie just rubbed her temples. She didn't understand science.

"They really talk a lot don't they? Ehehehe!" Delvin floated over to the boys, looking at the contents of the computer. "Some pretty interesting stuff. Knowledge is power, after all."

"And power corrupts...so lets just hope they stay the way they are." Case mumbled, though Delvin didn't seem to hear. Cassie sure did.

Angel and her sister slowly came walking up the stairs. Cassie looked over at her twin sister and blinked. Her face showed great irritation now, she didn't seem to like whatever the two boys were talking about.

"What got stuck up your ass today, Case?" Angel sneered, probably trying to get a reaction out of the girl. Sometimes they would just do that, to blow off steam. It would even go as far as escalating into a physical fight. To which the victor was never determined.

"Shut up, Crayon." Case mumbled, standing up and walking toward the door. Angel stood in front of it.

"Oh, no. I insist you stay, you have yet to meet my siblings!"

"Like hell." Case scoffed. "I'd rather keep my body intact, thank you very much." She continued, remembering the horror stories she heard from Angel more than a few odd times. She'd tried babysitting for her parents, only to get duct taped to the chair and poked with sticks. That didn't sound fun at all.

Cassie and Lynn sat idly watching the two bicker. Lynn didn't seem a bit fazed by what was going on. Her behavior must have been normal. She wasn't paying attention, but it seemed Case must have crossed a line, Angel look _furious_.

"Awww, I'm so scared. What ya gonna do? Scalp me?" Case shot back to her in reply to whatever it was that Angel had said. Lynn looked as amused as she'd ever seen her. Cassie even thought she saw a smile there!

"Oh, hell no! You did not just say that!" She screeched at Casey.

"Pffft, what now? Gonna ask Lynn to hold your earrings?" Casey's dry laugh echoed through the room. The boys seemed to have stopped talking to listen. "_'Oh hell naw, ya'll bettah hold mai earrings mmmhmmmm'_ Kyahahahaha!" The tomboy continued laughing, after imitating something from a TV show she saw.

Angel let out scream as she jumped on top of Casey, pulling her hair. This fight seemed to look serious. Much more so than the other ones. Cassie jumped up from her seated position and moved toward the boys, seeking some kind of protection.

"You can take the girl out of the rez...but you can't take the rez out of the girl..." Lynn mumbled from the doorway. Cassie didn't know what that even meant, but it must have had to do with the reservation they used to live on when they were little.

* * *

**Ah yes, some of the incidents that have happened in this chapter have actually happened to me. It's funny, actually. My first friend, who was only 13 at the time (Yes, I started first making friends that late...bad, right?). She found out I was Native American. Well, she only knew them from movies she saw. She asked "Do you guys still live in teepees?" I couldn't help but laugh. I told her no and that we lived in houses like normal people. Nowadays when I bring the memory up, she gets embarrassed. Hilarious, I might add.**

_**"Remember when you thought I lived in a teepee?"**_

**Now that I think about it, the memory is kinda cute. *Sigh***

**Also, I won't update this regularly. I just felt like posting the second chapter, since it was there and all... That and so that you readers can see their shinigami. **

**Yep, please tell me your opinion! **

**Do you like it so far? **

**What do you think of my characters? **

**Which one, so far, is your favorite?**


	3. It's Just Human Nature

"It's Just Human Nature"

_January 5, 2003_

**Case**

It had been a long day at school as Case walked into the house, letting out a tired sigh. She was frustrated, because she had to spend lunch time in detention today for kicking a guy in the crotch. She wanted to smirk at the memory. Should teach him not to look at her little sister _that_ way, ever again.

"Don't you have work today, mother?" Case asked curiously as she walked into the kitchen, watching her turn her head slightly and smile.

"Oh, well..." Her smile faltered at the thought of something, completely unknown to Case. "It's nothing...I."

"What's wrong?" Justin asked, just now walking in from behind Case. Angel and Cassie were still far behind them, because they had decided to race home.

"Mom...let me see your face." Case warned after seeing a glimpse of something on her face, she then walked up to her mother.

"N-no, it's nothing! It was an accident!" Anna protested holding up her arms in a panic, just now turning to reveal some bruises and a black eye. The young girl's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Who did this to you?" Case hissed in a deadly tone, seeing more bruises riddled along her mother's small arms. She did _not_ like the idea of anyone hurting her mother. Even though they'd gone through many hardships. Even though she was the one that hurt them when they were little. She was over that, and she'd come to realize that she was only going through a rough time. _This_, however. This infuriated Case.

"My boss..." She mumbled after some silence, looking down at the ground. She worked in an office just down town. A desk job, why would that man hurt Anna? The very thought of him made her blood boil. "I was fired."

"Why would he fire you? That doesn't make any sense!" She yelled, just about blowing her top. Then something clicked. She wasn't even qualified for the job in the first place, so how was she hired? Only one thing popped into her mind. Her boss must have been infatuated with her. He couldn't have...

"Did he try to..." Case growled, balling her fists up. Her body was shaking, but it didn't get any worse when Anna didn't answer. She only stood there, looking ashamed. "He didn't..._did he?_"

"P-please don't tell your dad. Please. He has _enough_ to deal with as it is." She pleaded, tears started forming in her eyes. "I-it wasn't my idea. I didn't want it to happen."

"He … he forced you!?" Case screamed, her eyes wide in anger. "What's his name?"

"W-what?"

"What's this man's name? TELL ME." She commanded, knowing full well what he looked like but she didn't know his name.

"C-christopher." She stuttered, not quite expecting her daughter to be so mad.

"Last name. Now."

"Emmett." Case froze, looking up at her mother in shock.

"Our teacher's husband?" It was true, their teacher's last name was Emmett. She still was their teacher for the past few years since they'd moved here. It'll probably stay that way until the ending of this year. Then they'd finally go into junior high.

Anna nodded solemnly, looking away out the window. It was so sunny out, so bright and beautiful. But why? Why on such a nice day, would their mother have such a thing taken from her. Her dignity. Her pride. All gone, in one day. This made Case even angrier.

"What's going on here, kid?" Delvin floated in, Cassie and Angel following. Cassie learned to ignore him, as to not arouse suspicion from Angel. So Cassie repeated Delvin's question, no doubt curious as well.

"What's wrong?"

"_Nothing_, I'm going to my room. Stay down here." Case ran up the stairs, Justin following silently behind. She slammed the door shut after Justin and locked it. "He's going to die." She hissed, pulling out the Death Note from her desk. It had a book cover on it that was titled 'Journal', trying to keep it well hidden and relatively unnoticeable for the time being.

She looked over at her brother, seeing him crying. He let out a sob, holding his face. Justin looked horrible, confused, and angry. All at once. He then cried out and punched the wall, making a hole in the process.

"It's okay...He'll get what he deserves, Justin. It'll be okay." She rubbed his back, kind of surprised at her own actions. She'd never tried to comfort anyone before, only seeing other people do it. But this time, she really felt horrible. Justin was sensitive to his family and she was sure this bothered him a lot.

It was then, that Case was the first to use the Death Note. Writing only his name in the book, then waiting for 40 seconds. He'd be dead. Heart Attack. She could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest, sweat starting to form on her forehead as she watched the clock that was hanging on the wall.

**20 … 21 … 22 … 23 … 24**

She knew that she would be responsible for this man's death. But he deserved it.

_'How many more women had he done this to? How many more people had he fooled and manipulated?'_ She tried to make herself feel better about it, hoping that she could forgive herself somehow. She knew full well that it was wrong to kill.

**30 … 31 … 32 … 33 … 34**

It was wrong for a human to kill another human. But then again, this is the way it always has been isn't it? Right? It has always been kill or be killed. It's just the way the world works. He had hurt her mother and he had to pay. He HAD to. She couldn't bear the thought of him ever trying anything again. With _anyone_, not just her mother either.

**35 … 36 … 37 … 38 … 39**

"Well, there is no turning back now."

**40**

It was then, out in the hallway that they heard Delvin bust out into a fit of laughter. He seemed to enjoy seeing people act purely on their emotion. Watching them get so riled up. His laughing seemed to get contagious, as Case was snickering as well. Knowing that man would never hurt her mother again. And that her mother wouldn't have to deal with knowing he was still alive and well, as if nothing had happened, while she was so ashamed of herself. Case made sure that he got what he deserved. If no one else would do it, then she would step up and make sure he gets what's coming to him.

* * *

**Justin**

Justin shook his head, wiping the tears from his face. He must have looked like a wreck, he figured. He didn't want Angel to see him like this. So, unmanly.

"Look...we need to find a good place to hide this book. Delvin said that once someone touches it they can see him." He explained, grabbing it and sitting down on the floor of her room. "We would be in some deep shit if anyone was able to see him."

Delvin floated through the door swiftly, "Looks like colorful girl is coming. Ehehe, better hide it." Justin sat on top of it looking up at the door.

"What's up with all the ruckus?" Angel knocked at the door, probably referring to Anna and Justin's crying.

"Nothing. Just talking about schoolwork." Justin shifted slightly, after he opened the door for her. He made sure the book was tucked away underneath the bed.

"Hmm, didn't sound like it was about school..." She shrugged, looking out the window. "Whatever …"

"Ehehehe." Angel stopped talking and froze. Delvin laughed into his palm, trying to stifle his laughter. Justin's eyes widened, could she see him? _'B-but how?'_

"Eh? Did...you guys just hear some cackling just now?"

"Heh heh." Justin scratched the back of his head. "My mom always is so superstitious about this house, saying it's haunted."

"Hmm...Lynn and my parents believe in that stuff too." She answered, cracking her knuckles and sitting on Case's bed right next to her. She just stayed silent.

"What kind of stuff?" Justin asked Angel, getting mildly curious about what it was they believed in.

"Oh, nothing. You should know about it, my dad is a traditional man from up north. Goes to sweat lodges and is a pipe carrier." Angel plopped back on Case's bed, facing the ceiling. "He says that there are good and bad spirits that walk this earth." she looked over at Case. "Are you guys … Catholic or anything?"

"We don't really talk much about religion in the house. So I'm not sure what it is our mother believes in." Case answered, tapping her fingers slightly.

"Ah, well I do hear a lot of people say that our 'way' is wrong because apparently we don't believe in God. But that is not true." Angel swung her legs a bit, "The Creator is just what we call him, it's still the same thing."

"I don't believe that there is a higher being. I find it kind of fishy." Justin voiced from the other side of the dimly lit room. Only the lamp on the dresser was on, making it kind of hard to see.

"Oooh, hoho. Ask her if Lynn can see things. I wanna know!" Delvin just about yelled in Justin's ear. He flinched, looking up at Angel. He grumbled slightly.

"Angel, does your sister claim she can see things? Spirits...or...anything?" Justin was kind of uncomfortable with talking about things like that. Case looked over at Justin, giving him a scolding look.

"Oh, yea. Lynn and my dad can. My mom claims she could before, but she kind of just...blocked it out. Not liking what she saw."

"Like, what can they see? Or what have they seen?"

"Lynn did mention something lately, saying that a bad spirit was following our group the other day on our way to school. She said that she didn't like it and would find a way to get rid of it if it tried anything. Something like that...I don't know."

"Ohhh, I'm so scared." Delvin waved his hands in a mock surrendering gesture.

"D-do you believe her?" Justin stuttered, not intentionally. He almost wanted to smack himself for sounding nervous.

"I don't know. She saw our grandma in her dreams the day she passed away. It's hard not to believe her...she's so serious."

"I'm tired." Case butted in, looking at both of them. "Can I get some sleep?"

"Oh, sure. Sorry bout that." Justin apologized, making sure Angel was out of the room before standing up and looking at Case. The door shut with a soft 'click' and he started talking. "We should hide it in the floorboards. No one would ever know exactly which one to pry open."

"Good idea." Case stood up, looking at her hardwood floor. "It would be obvious if it were under the bed or rug..."

"What about over here? The eighth board down on the right side of your room."

"Why eight?"

"It's my lucky number, ehehe." Justin tried to laugh, still feeling a bit shaken up about what happened to his mother.

"Okay...sounds good to me."

* * *

Later that night, Justin decided he wanted a snack before sleep. A midnight snack, if you will.

He starts to frost the cupcake with a longing look in his eye._ 'Oh god yes.' _He thought to himself, thinking of how it will taste when he had the little delicacy in his mouth. The frosting, the cake. The sugar!

"This would go good with milk." He walked over toward the refrigerator, leaving the cupcake on the dining room table. A loud thud and a squeak sounded throughout the room as Justin stubbed his pinky toe on the far end of the table. "Ow!"

The cupcake rolled onto it's side and fell onto the floor. Justin's eyes widened and he let out a 'phew' as he saw it sitting safely on the floor. Fortunately the frosting hadn't been smeared. Thank god.

He heard footsteps coming near, but he cradled his foot a bit longer. His mistake.

"Oh hey, Jus- WARRGHBBBLLL" Angel stepped onto the cupcake, slipping and smearing it as she fell unceremoniously onto the floor. Justin must have looked horrified, because Angel saw his face and immediately sat up and smiled.

"I'm fine!" She announced cheerily.

"My cupcake!" He screamed, running up to the smeared frosting that was now on the floor and all over Angel's butt.

"Oh, thanks." Angel pouted slightly before getting up and brushing crumbs off of the back of her legs.

"Ehehehe! Looks like you're shit out of luck, kid." Delvin laughed at Justin's form as he knelt over his, now deceased, cupcake.

It didn't seem like that was the end of his suffering. Because the next day would be just as bad, if not worse.

* * *

**Angel**

Angel was just on her way to the living area to check on what Cassie was doing. She'd gone upstairs to ask Case about her math homework. Math has never been Angel's strong subject. It was usually musical or any type of performing art that she was good at.

At that moment, Justin came walking out of the kitchen just ahead of her a ways. She was half expecting him to start to flirt with her. Out of all the years, she'd never known a guy to be so persistent. The other guys would generally get bored of chasing her after awhile. So? Her standards were pretty high.

What was odd, though, was that he was totally immersed in the thought of eating his peanut butter toast that he was holding in his hands. Knowing him, he'd probably sprinkled sugar on it.

_'He's going to be diabetic soon, I can see it now.' _Angel shook her head, then a thought occurred to her. It was a mean idea, but it would be kind of amusing.

Justin was licking his lips with a hungry looking look in his eye as he held his toast close to his face. Angel almost wanted to snicker, but kept her face.

"Sup?" She greeted, smacking his hand and making his toast get pushed onto his face with a '**SPLAT**'. She could tell, now that she was close, that the peanut butter had been melted...so the toast was probably hot.

"AAAH!" He yelled, his arms bent up and his hands were scratching at his face. "My- MY!" He was going to continue but instead of saying something like 'My beautiful face!' like she'd expected. He started to cry. Sob.

"W-why!" He looked down at the wasted toast and his tears were streaming down his face as his lip quivered. He reminded her of a puppy. A poor little puppy.

So that's why he was crying. Wasted toast...or sugar. That or the fact that it was scolding hot and it had just landed on his face. Either way.

She could have swore she heard some cackling in the distance. Hmm, must have been her imagination.

* * *

**Justin**

He was still cleaning the peanut butter off of his face, it being red from the hot peanut butter. Delvin had been following him at the time, so when the incident happened he fell over onto the floor and bust out into a fit of laughter. Delvin always laughed at his misfortunes. It seemed as though today was not his day.

"Did you see the look on her face? She looked so sad, almost guilty after you started to cry!" By this time he had calmed down, though he was still poking fun at Justin.

"Yes, I got a good look at her face before I got peanut butter shoved into my eyes and nose. After that, I couldn't really see anything." Justin grumbled, wiping it off then washing his face again in the sink.

"It was hilarious! God, I love that girl."

"Hey! Hey, so do I. So stay _away_ from her!" Justin claimed rather loudly, pointing an accusing finger at the shinigami.

"Eh, what? Oh, no. She can't see me. I didn't mean it like that anyway, kid. I'm waaay too old for her. Ehehehe."

How much worse can this weekend get?

* * *

**Angel**

Angel was sitting on the couch in their living area upstairs with a strained look on her face.

_'Wait how did this go again?' _She asked herself as she stared down at the math question. She was only 12, why the hell did they give them these kind of problems? Angel always wondered why their education system was so hard.

Then again she was in a private school. Usually she'd ask her sister to help, since she didn't seem to care what went on and would just give her the answers straight out. That didn't bother Angel. She didn't feel like asking Case for help, since they were still kind of pissed at each other from an earlier incident. Forget about asking Cassie. Justin...on the other hand.

She sighed, he would probably try to flirt with her. But she needed help. So she got up and walked up to Justin's room.

"Justin?" She asked as she knocked at his door.

"Come in!" He called.

"Can you help me with...this..." She stared at him as he ate a handful of gummy bears. His cheeks looked stuffed to the max and it looked like he was in the middle of writing an essay.

"Sure, babe. Come here." He smiled, gummy bears still in his teeth. Angel's face must have showed disgust, because he shut his mouth and swallowed quickly. "Sorry."

"It's fine...my brother does that a lot too." She walked up to him and looked down at his computer. He then scooted closer to her and grabbed another handful.

"Want some gummy bears?" He asked in an odd tone, trying to be romantic. Failing horribly, she added to herself. Angel blinked a few times, wanting to laugh at him. He was so cute sometimes.

"There are …. so many colors." She replied instead, trying to divert his attention to something else. He looked down at his handful of candy and his eyes widened in fear.

"C-colors?" He stuttered, "I thought I … I specially ordered non-colored gummy bears..." He started to shake slightly, finally taking notice that some _did_ look like they had color to them.

"What's wrong with …." Wait. He couldn't tell they were colored? She looked at another bowl, which contained a few gummy bears, different shades of gray and some were clear. Had he specially ordered them? But why?

.

.

.

Was he colorblind?

"Justin...?" She asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. He didn't reply, only sat frozen. Looking at his handful of gummy bears. "Justin?"

She just left him be, going back to the living room to finish what she could of her homework. He would be fine. She hoped...they were just colored gummy bears after all. Unless he had some sort of phobia.

It wasn't long until she'd asked the girls about it. To which they answered that, yes, he was colorblind. He couldn't see certain hues like, red or pink. So he just opted for not liking colors at all.

_'So he didn't take being colorblind very lightly, did he...'_ Angel sighed inwardly. She had one other person she knew that was also colorblind, but he didn't get _that_ bad.

* * *

That night, everyone was sitting in the dining room. A few scented candles were lit in those cute clay containers that Anna loved.

"Ahahaha. Aw stop it." Cassie giggled some more waving her hands in the process, all the while looking at Angel. They were sitting next to each other babbling about how cute their clothing was. Typical girl stuff.

Soft footsteps could be heard entering the other side of the room. Angel looked up over at Justin just as he strolled in.

"Hey, wassup babe?" He asked as he got closer, then leaning against the counter next to the table. Angel just rose her eyebrow, while her friend Case face palmed from the other side of the table.

"Seriously, Justin? You should just give up. You know you have no chance with Angel. She's too _picky_." Case commented dully, looking at her brother.

"Hey, it's not bad to have _standards_." Angel almost hissed. Case peeked over at her and shook her head.

That girl, Case, really got on her nerves. Though they were friends, they still got underneath each others skin. A lot. Their personalities clashed constantly. But they had so much in common that they were close enough not to let that bother their friendship.

Angel looked up at Justin again. He was still leaned against the counter, trying to look nonchalant. It seemed as though he had the idea that girls _liked_ that sort of thing.

_'Boys...' _Angel scoffed lightly, looking him over. His oversized sweater and baggy jeans hung on his tall lanky frame. His monochromatic clothing a result of his hate for his colorblindness, now that she thought of it.

Wait. Angel's thoughts stopped suddenly at the sight of light coming off from behind Justin. The bottom of his sweater...was it on fire? No.

Angel rubbed her eyes and looked again. He _was_ on fire! Justin looked at Angel and gave her a charming smile. His white teeth seemed to have an odd sparkle to them.

"Is it hot in here, or is it just _you_?" He asked smoothly, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Ummm...you're on fire." Angel commented back, trying to ignore the stupid pickup line.

"I know." The gray haired boy laughed, taking a step away from the counter and leaning toward Angel. Case and Cassie seemed to be talking about something, not really paying attention to the couple.

"N-No, your _ass_!" She flailed her arms, adding emphasis on the last word.

"It's perfect, isn't it?"

"LITERALLY! Look!" Angel's voice cracked, making Cassie and Case look over at their brother.

The duo gasped at the sight of their brother's flaming buttocks.

"Justin!" Cassie screamed, pointing at his sweater. Justin stuck his butt out and looked, probably feeling the burning sensation by now.

"AAH! Ah! Oh my god!" He yelled loudly, pulling off his sweater and throwing it on the ground. He then proceeded with stomping on it.

"Now that's one hot piece of ass..." Angel murmured, more to herself than anything. Case snickered, having heard Angel's comment. It looked as though those candles that Anna liked, didn't necessarily like Justin.

"Does he always do this?" A voice asked while cackling continuously, making Angel laugh.

"Oh, yea all the time." Angel answered, tapping her temple. She looked over at Cassie and Case, who had gone completely quiet. They were staring at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"You can hear me?" Okay, so now she noticed that she'd never heard that voice in her life. She whirled around expecting a new person to join the group. Perhaps a new friend? She was only met with nothing. Just thin air.

"W-what? Of course I can!" Angel stood up from her chair, Justin breathing heavily on the other side of the room from over exerting himself.

"Hmm, can you not see me?" It asked. The girls seemed to be deadly silent.

"W-where are you! Show yourself!" She yelled, waving her hand in front of her frantically. That is, until she hit something with her hand. "Eep!" She squeaked and ran to the other side of the dining room.

"Oh, you can at least buy me dinner first little missy." It then cackled loudly. "Ah, did you get that! Ahahaha! _Buy me dinner._ Ha...classic."

"Who or what the hell are you!" Angel screamed, hiding behind Justin who had just gone rigid. The others had their eyes locked on Angel, faces pale for some reason.

_'They are hiding something from me...' _She thought to herself in a panic. "You know who that is, don't you? Who is that?" She asked swiftly, pointing an accusing finger at the twins. They just kept staring at her like she murdered a puppy.

"He won't hurt you, it's okay Angel." Justin assured her slowly, "But...I guess we have a bit of explaining to do don't we?"

"Explain about what? Where is that disembodied voice coming from? Why is he laughing at me!?" She was visibly shaking by now, all the while that voice was laughing at her like she was all the amusement he'd gotten in years.

* * *

**Case**

"W-wait, so... you mean to tell me if I touch that notebook I'll see this..." Angel stumbled on her words, most likely trying to remember what they'd called it awhile ago.

"Shinigami." Case finished for her.

"Shinigami. Right." Angel's face held uneasiness, her eyes were still wide with wonder more than anything. Just a moment ago she was so frightened. However, that slowly melted away into curiosity.

Her fingertips brushed the paper and her eyes slowly trailed up the body of the shinigami. Casey expected Angel to scream and call him a monster. Perhaps even faint, just like Cassie did. But that wasn't the case. Something that she didn't even expect happened.

Angel's mouth opened, her eyes got wider (if that was even possible). Her finger was pointed in his direction, shaking. Was she scared? No...That look...

"D-Delvin!?" Angel yelled, breathing heavily. "Delvin, is that really you!? What happened to your face?! Why is your eye covered? You got skinnier, you need to gain weight." Her rant continued, much to the siblings' surprise. How did she?

Justin seemed to be observing her with those serious calculating eyes of his. It wasn't often that he got serious.

"How do you know Delvin?" Casey asked the colorful girl, voicing the question that was no doubt on everyone else's mind. In response Angel looked over at the other's and smiled widely, her teeth showing.

"I knew he was real!" She yelled, pumping her fist. "Hell yeah!"

"You've grown up, squirt. Kehehehehe." He responded to the girl's rant, standing with his hand on his hip. Delvin seemed to find the fact that Angel had known him amusing, seeing as how his face held such an expression. His lips were pulled into the biggest smirk they've seen on the thing. He hadn't told them, he knew she knew him. But he didn't tell them a thing. He _knew_ this was going to happen! The little-

"Son of a-" Case was cut off.

"Open up, guys! I have dinner~." Their mother's voice sounded from the other side of the door. "Why is this even locked anyway?"

"Don't tell anyone about this, or else we'll have problems." Case warned Angel with a stern look upon her face. That was the last thing these kids needed, was more problems.

"O-okay..." She replied a bit hesitantly, looking up at the tall shinigami. It seemed as though they were having a stare down as Case got up and walked toward the door.

"Don't you have a key?" She asked Anna, while she came trotting in with a smile on her face. The bruises were still there, and Steve seemed to fall for the whole 'I fell down the stairs' bullshit. Then again that could just be him wanting to believe it. Case shook her head and followed her into the kitchen.

"Want to help?" Anna pulled out a few things and started grabbing pots out of the cupboard. Case grumbled a bit at her unanswered question. "We will make whatever you want, hmmm?"

"Hn.." She started grabbing the materials for tacos out of the fridge and continued to help her mother cook the meal for the others in the household.

It was already dark outside as Case sat next to her sister on the windowsill upstairs. Angel and Justin sat in front of the television playing a game, 'Call of Duty MW2'. Sometimes they'd get mad and blame eachother for things unknown to her at the moment.

Case observed as Justin kept shoveling snack after snack into his mouth as he sat on the floor next to the coffee table. The glass table had numerous amounts of things on it, ranging from Dill Pickle chips and cups of instant ramen to Chocolate bars the size of their heads.

She had no doubt in her mind they'd eat everything on that table tonight. Angel and Justin were heavy eaters, but it was odd to her how neither of them got fat. She knew Angel exercised to try and even it out. Justin, however, was a different story. The boy's stomach was like a black hole.

Hours passed and they all started to get tired. Her little sister, Cassie, was already laying in her bed sleeping soundly. Case decided to stay up on the couch and watch them play their games. Justin lay passed out on the ground, crinkled up chips lay around his figure.

Angel was still awake, though only slightly. It wasn't long until her mischievous nature came into play.

"Hey, Case." The short girl whispered as she tip toed around the junk that lay upon the floor.

"Hmmn?"

"Wanna help me with something?" Angel's smile told her everything. It definitely had something to do with the poor figure that lay on the floor. She nodded in affirmation as they headed off to the kitchen. Why the kitchen?

Angel grabbed a small saucer and started to search the cupboards for something.

"Kool-Aid?" Case asked silently as she started to pour pink Kool-Aid onto the dish, getting it slightly damp with a spoon.

"Watch this." She snickered as she walked back into the living room upstairs with her dish. Angel then used her fingers to start to smear the thick mixture into the young boy's gray locks. Case's eyes widened at the scene before her.

He probably wouldn't be able to tell that it was there until someone told him. It was genius!

The tomboy stifled her laughter as she walked over to them and helped her put numerous streaks in his hair.

Tomorrow would be an interesting day...

* * *

"There is a test today?" Cassie fretted, her hands were running along the strap of her book bag. Currently, the kids were standing in the hallway of their school, just about to start their next class just before lunch. It was rather bright today, the sun seeping through the clear windows across from the classroom.

"Yes. The teacher mentioned that we had one last week, did you forget?" Case mumbled, looking through her math book and remembering the few things she forgot about.

"Y-yes..." She said disdainfully, looking down at the tile. She tapped her foot against the floor and looked sheepishly up at Delvin. Trying not to make it look suspicious.

"Why are you looking at me like that, kid?" He was floating around, his legs crossed in an odd position. He then started to float upside down, making Case want to laugh. She could see him at the corner of her eye.

"Could you help me?" Cassie asked, looking in Case's direction. Though her older sister knew that the question was directed at Delvin, so she kept quiet. She stuck with listening to the conversation.

"What do I get in return?" He smiled widely, sitting back in an upright position.

"What do you want?" Cassie's gaze still in Case's direction. "I'll do anything..." She whispered.

"Apples. A basket of apples, and I'll find a way to read the answers to you from the answer sheet." He giggled girlishly, "You are a sly one, you. Never thought that it'd be coming from such a timid creature, Hahahaha!" He waved his hand in an odd way and giggled some more through his other hand.

Cassie nodded and headed into the classroom.

Unfortunately for Justin, it took him until almost the end of the day to realize why everyone was pointing at him and snickering. Though some would say it was his fault for not noticing after his swift shower that morning.

Everyone watched as a flicker of realization went across his face as Cassie walked up to her older brother and brushed her hand across his hair.

"Y-You _colored_ it!?" He squawked loudly, covering what he could with his hands as if he were in the nude. "Why would you do that!?"

Angel was giggling behind him, making him turn around quickly and point at her.

"Was it _you_!?" Justin's face held a betrayed expression.

"What ever do you mean?" She batted her eyelashes innocently, insuring that he wouldn't get too angry at the colorful girl.

He only let out a frustrated whine and ran toward the entrance of the school, probably headed home.

* * *

**I hope you're starting to get a feel for the characters now. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for the story, I'm always open to them. Just message me about it. **

**Also, thank you for the review krikanalo. I really appreciate it. **


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